1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to packaging machines that are used to package consumer products. More particularly, the present invention relates to packaging machines that make pouch packages by joining one or more films of material around a consumer product along a peripheral seam.
2. Prior Art Description
Many commercial products are created in an automated manufacturing line where the product passes through successive pieces of automated processing machinery. Typically, one of the last pieces of equipment in an automated manufacturing line is a packaging machine. The packaging machine receives a finished product and packages that finished product for sale to the public. The types of packaging machines that exist in the art are as diversified as the products being sold. However, the present invention is a pouch packaging machine that creates packaging by joining one or more sheets of material together around the product being packaged. Accordingly, only pouch packaging machines are herein addressed.
Pouch packaging machines have been in use for many decades. In this long period of time, pouch packaging machines have been made in a variety of configurations. A pouch packaging machine is loaded with one or more rolls of packaging material, such as plastic film or paper. The packaging material is joined together along a common peripheral edge to create an enclosed pouch or bag. A product is placed in between section of the packaging material as the pouch is being formed. Accordingly, the product becomes packaged within the pouch as the pouch is formed. The products can be solid, granular, liquid, cream or even gaseous. The various pouches are then cut apart to create the individually packaged products that are ready for sale.
Since a finished product must be introduced into a pouch packaging machine in order to be packaged, the size and shape of the product dictates much of the packaging machine's design. For instance, some products are best packaged while in a horizontal position. In such cases, the packaging machine is designed to form the packaging pouch around the product as it runs horizontally into the packaging machine along a conveyor belt. Packaging machines for such situations are said to be configured with a “horizontal feed”. Conversely, some products are best packaged in a vertical orientation, where the product is poured into a pouch. In such situations, the packaging machine is constructed to make packaging pouches in the vertical plane. A packaging machine so configured is said to have a “vertical feed”.
Packaging machines are often custom designed to package a particular product. In this manner, the packaging machine can be part of the overall automated processing line for that product. However, to justify the significant cost of designing and building a custom pouch packaging machine, the product being manufactured must be manufactured in large quantities. If a product is only manufactured in small quantities or in small batches, it is not practical to design and build a customized packaging machine for that product. Rather, for products made in small quantities, generalized packaging machines are most often used.
Generalized packaging machines are widely available. Such generalized packaging machines are stand-alone machines that may have either a vertical feed or a horizontal feed. Small run products are typically loaded into the machine in batches and are packaged. Thus, the packaging machine is not integrated as part of the automated manufacturing process. Rather, finished goods have to be carried to the packaging machine, loaded into the packaging machine and transferred away from the packaging machine after the packaging process is complete. This adds significantly to the labor and cost associated with manufacture. Furthermore, stand-alone pouch packaging machines are manufactured either to have a horizontal feed configuration or a vertical feed configuration, wherein the configurations cannot be changed. Thus, a manufacturer would need to have two different pouch packaging machines if sometimes a vertical feed packaging machine were needed and other times a horizontal feed packaging machine were needed.
A need therefore exists for a generalized pouch packaging machine that can be selectively changed into different configurations, thereby enabling one packaging machine to fit the changing packaging needs of a manufacturer. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.